Upon entering a new place, a person is always apprehensive about who they are going to meet and what they are going to find there. I felt that same way the moment I teleported to my first location in Second Life, after changing the clothes of my avatar, so I could blend in and look like I belong there. The first place that I visited was Mexico. It was deserted because it was late at night. I explored for a while and took some pictures.
This photo, one of the best I took, was fun to try and center and figure out how to apply the Rule of Thirds. As for the virtual Mexico itself, anyone who visits this place can see some very creative virtual stone statues and architecture. They can also explore a few temples with many steps, so be prepared to climb! I learned that Mexico is a fascinating place that I want to visit someday in real-life to explore the temples. Avatars can truly get a sense of hundreds of years of culture by visiting Mexico in Second Life.
The next place I teleported to was the Globe Theatre. This was a fascinating place and such a real-life looking replica to me. I have only seen pictures of the theater, but those pictures and the virtual world replica seems eerily similar. The picture above shows how theatre was decorated and looked. I also had an uncanny thought while there about how one of Shakespeare's plays might have looked when staged and preformed for the Queen back in the late 1500's. The only thing that visitors should watch out for are signs that say the place is under construction because you can fall through the floor, which happened to me. Any Second Life member can explore this legendary theater of Shakespeare's time, which may interest users who have read his plays or even educators that teach them.
Afterwards, I visited some other areas, but none were as interactive as the last one I visited on my photo tour of Second Life. This place was the International Space Flight museum. It was fascinating that to see that someone had created rockets in Second Life. I was actually able to play and interact with the rockets, something that could never be done in real- life. I do not know if any other visitors would be as impressed as I was, but I really enjoyed studying the rockets. I wish that there were other people around to talk about them with, but I had to explore on my own. I never thought that Second Life could be used to create such learning- based places!
As my first experience of visiting places and teleporting back and forth came to an end, I was upset, but then I realized that I can go back to visit anytime because they are right on my computer! Second Life just is so amazing in this aspect that it can make history, culture and science come alive in such a way to actually make students want to study them. I am really looking forward to my next exploration and more pictures will come soon documenting my visits. I cannot wait! Where will in the world will I go next? Stay tuned...
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